Archives

RepRap aficionado Brad has designed a portable, mini-3D printer called the Tantillus. Not only is it pretty cute, it’s also capable of running on batteries!

The inspiration for the printer came when Brad found that his Prusa was too large to bring with him on holidays, and that full-size 3D printing capability was unnecessary during travel.

As expected, the build area is small (100mm x 100mm x 110mm), but actually isn’t too far off of the original MakerBot Cupcake’s intended usable build area. Also, printable extension panels are planned in case a larger print is required.

The most intriguing planned feature to me is the daisy chain option. Two printers sharing a single set of electronics could be used to mass-produce duplicate sets of prints at a reduced cost. (Like fleet of Tantillus devices printing copies of themselves, for example.)

There’s no video of printing in action yet, but Brad uploaded a quick video of how movement looks by hand to YouTube the other day: (more…)

To celebrate the new year, we’re running a best of the blog 2011 for each category 3D printing, laser cutting, CNC routing, art, hardwear, materials etc. 2011 was an impressive year for 3D printing. It was a real challenge selecting only 10 from all the amazing articles. I think you’ll agree this snapshot of ten (in no particular order) showcase the exciting possibilities with the technology…

This generated an enormous amount of buzz on the interwebs and is probably my favourite 3D printer so far. If the future is destined for a Mad Max-esque distopia this is what I’ll be taking to my desert island!

Moving Brands got themselves set up with a RepRap3D printer and came up with the only correct answer to “how shall we use this for the holidays?” – delicious high resolution chocolates! The studio set about making models of things with personal meanings, then filled a company advent calendar with the results.

Queen’s University in Canada is sponsoring a competition for the best sustainable technologies printable on an open source 3D printer. What does that mean? I don’t really know. The competition has been left open for anything you can imagine that fits “sustainable technologies that fit human development needs.” The only firm requirement appears to be that it is printable on an open source 3D printer, such as a RepRap.

The contest closes February 1st 2012 and winners will be announced February 15th. First prize wins $1000 (Canadian dollars so around $968 USD right now), second prize wins $250, and 3 runners up receive a mention as runners up. To enter, upload your design to Thingiverse with the tag “QAS Contest.”

Brook Drumm’s Printrbot is an original 3D Printer using FDM like many other kitset 3D printers such as RepRaps and Makerbots. Printrbot aims to be the simplest and most affordable kitset 3d printer available to home users.

“This all-in-one 3D printer kit can be assembled and printing in a couple of hours. Other kits will not only take you many more hours to build, they will also have hundreds more parts, and they will cost more.” Says Drumm (more…)

Talking “shop” with a 3d printing enthusiast could go one of two ways. Either an excited exchange would ensue, with wild ideas thrown about as predictions of the Next Big Thing become ever more larger than life, or, eyes glaze over as onlookers get lost in specialized mumbo-jumbo that only the most dedicated of tech heads would be able to digest.

The following article from an Australian 3d printing evangelist does a fantastic job of de-mystifying the technology that we know and love, so that even the most uninitiated of listeners will soon be jumping online to download plans for a Makerbot or RepRap of their very own.

Click through to read the summary that followed a little show-and-tell that Andy gave at a recent family gathering…

Detailed instructions for a Stereolithographic 3D printer on Instructables.

Rob Hopeless has posted an Instructable showing how to build a Stereolithographic 3D printer at home as part of the Instructables contest to win an Epilog Laser cutter. If you read through the tutorial, I think you’ll agree that he is a serious contender in the competition.

He went all out on this Instructable. There is a parts list, including companies who sell every part, plenty of photos at every step, downloadable files for a CNC (ok, so you probably can’t do this part at home), and 3D diagrams explaining the assembly.(more…)

Ultimaker kits only started shipping in May 2011, but it has already gained a loyal following. Most recently, a dozen or so local hobbyists brought their Ultimakers to the 3D Printing Event during Dutch Design Week just to show them off (images below).

And who can blame them? The Ultimaker has a large build area and produces high quality prints remarkably fast. If that’s not enough, it’s open source (due to the fact that it’s an offshoot of the RepRap family). The only downside seems to be the fact that it’s somewhat more expensive than its most similar competitor, the Makerbot Thing-O-Matic, at 1200 euros (~$1625 right now) compared to $1299.(more…)

We recently posted a report about the first annual 3D Printing Event during Dutch Design Week. In addition to the many interesting speakers, who you can watch online, there were numerous booths showcasing the latest 3D printing related technology.

One of my favorites was LeBigRep, an enormous plastic extrusion printer based on the RepRap platform. The build window is approximately 1 meter x 1 meter x 1 meter (roughly 3ft^3), which makes this one big printer.

LeBigRep is a project by Thingiverse user krtcrkd, who has uploaded the in-progress files to Thingiverse for anyone who wants to try to build one for themselves.

One thing that distinguishes this initiative from others is the focus on using the RepRap technology for business. 3D printing tends to be divided into high-end printers for large companies and cheaper open-source printers for personal use. This project is somewhere in the middle.

Update: If you are interested in using this facility or in RepRap technology in general, the Lab is hosting their first networking event on November 1st.